Those Who Are Left Behind
by Miqila
Summary: Eren's power has been passed on to the next person, and Mikasa grieves.


**Warnings: Spoilers up to chapter 105, character death.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own SnK**

 **Those Who Are Left Behind**

Mikasa stared at the dark stone with eyes unseeing. There, on the stone, was the text: _In the memory of Eren Yeager, 30.3.835-14.9.858._ Of course, his body wasn't truly there, for it had been eaten by the next holder of the Founding Titan. Still, it was important for Mikasa and many others that there was a place to remember him at, something concrete to show the next generation that he had indeed existed.

"You've been here for almost 24 hours, Mikasa" Connie said as he walked over "You should go rest, or at the very least eat something."

Mikasa answered him with a glare, slightly surprised when Connie glared right back, not flinching under her cold gaze.

"I've been there too, you know" he said "Standing in front of a grave, telling myself that it's just a really bad dream. But it isn't; he's gone."

"I know" Mikasa said, turning her head away as she hid her face in her scarf. Of course, she knew, she wasn't delusional. She knew Eren was gone and never coming back, just like many others. Just like Sasha.

Sasha.

Mikasa remembered her death, remembered how it had brought forth the worst feeling she'd had since the death of her parents. She cried she mourned she grieved, missing her dead friend, yet at the time, despite Sasha being the one who died, she had also been thinking about how the worst was still ahead of her. And now it was here.

"Tell me, Connie" she said without looking at the man "How do I get over this? How do I move on?"

One would probably expect her to ask it from Armin, but to her Connie was a far more logical choice. The man had, after all, been in pretty much the same position four years ago and lived through it. But to her surprise, Connie answered with: "I'll tell you when I find out."

Now she turned to face him again, the shock evident on her face as she looked at Connie, the grief shining off his face like it had on _that_ day. Briefly, Mikasa wondered if it had always been there since then, if it had never left in the first place. To her horror she realized she couldn't tell. She'd never been close with Connie, but she had thought they would've been closer than _this_. How had she not noticed how huge of a burden he still carried, more than any of them?

"All I do know is- "Connie continued suddenly, meeting her gaze "-That if we lay down and give up now, she died for nothing" his gaze landed on the stone that marked Eren's grave " _They_ died for nothing."

 _Died for nothing._

"I won't let it come to that" Mikasa said, voice so stern it surprised even her "We _will_ get our peace. For their sake."

Connie grinned, a grin she'd gotten used to in the last four years yet now realized for the first time that it was nowhere near as bright as it used to be before that fateful mission on Marley.

"That's the spirit" he said "Now come on, let's get you something to eat before we have to bury you too."

Mikasa actually let out a chuckle at that, knowing full well that dark humor like that wasn't usually Connie's style, but it certainly fit the mood.

As they walked away from the grave, Mikasa could see Jean and Armin waiting for them a little way away, smiling sad smiles as they saw that Connie actually managed to bring her along. Together, the remining four of Levi's special squad walked away.

And then there were three.

A bit over five years had passed since Eren's death, and today it'd been Armin's turn to pass on his power. A grave stone had been prepared beforehand, put in its place, next to Eren's after the power had been passed on. And just like five years ago, Mikasa stood there, this time in front of Armin's grave.

"Mikasa" she heard Jean say, feeling a hand on her shoulder "It's been- "

"Three hours" Mikasa finished without looking at him, yet was corrected by Connie: "Seven, actually."

Mikasa blinked, knowing that her sense of time was usually far better than this. Oh well, seven hours still wasn't that long.

"You should come and get something to eat" Jean said, squeezing her shoulder "It's getting dark."

Mikasa let out a sigh, squeezing her eyes shut tightly before opening them again. Not yet, she couldn't break down yet. The peace was yet to be achieved.

"Yeah" she said, turning around to face the two, surprising them with how steady her gaze was "Let's go."

As the three of them walked away, Mikasa couldn't help but wonder who'd die next, for it was unavoidable. Still, she did hope that it would be of old age after retirement, after their bodies simply couldn't keep up enough in order to fight. It was unlikely they'd make it that long, especially not all of them, but she could always hope. And hope she did, she really, really did, for these two were all that she had left. They were her family, one that she'd protect to the bitter end.

She owed that to them and the ones she hadn't been able to protect.


End file.
